Introduction to ‘The “New York Times” Building’ by D. Friedman

In one sense, Corydon Purdy was simply describing an interesting project when he wrote in 1909 about the design of the headquarters building for The New York Times. Purdy had been the engineer of record for the project, which combined a tall building of extreme slenderness with foundations straddling the tunnel of the new Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway, and therefore had an interest in self-promotion. His firm, Purdy & Henderson, was one of the oldest and most prominent consulting firms dedicated to structural engineering design for large buildings.

Purdy and Lightner Henderson established their partnership in Chicago in...